


physical reminders

by ecomexi



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, one sided yuzutori? likely, postgrad, subtle ib/yz but shhhhh, tori is just a little bit of a disaster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-06 17:05:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18855331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ecomexi/pseuds/ecomexi
Summary: Yuzuru returns to the mansion one afternoon with a bloody nose. Tori is fed up with Yuzuru keeping secrets.





	physical reminders

**Author's Note:**

> if you follow my personal you probably know exactly what this is and im sorry in advance

It began with the sight of blood, red and bold before Tori's wide eyes —not particularly striking or plentiful, but Yuzuru's face was dripping with it, from his nose past his lips and trickling down his chin. His uniform was even stained with it, and yet Yuzuru, who closed the mansion's front door gently behind him, did not seem to notice. And if he did, he seemed to view it as a nuisance not worth his time, because it seemed as if the steady flow of blood had not even been touched, save for a smudge against his top lip. Tori was paralyzed for only a fraction of a second before he cried out.

  "Yuzuru...?!" And he marched forward, as Yuzuru stopped in his tracks at the call, confused. "Hey, what happened with you?! There's blood on your face, and you're making a dumb expression, and...!"

Yuzuru blinked. "Blood?" He touched his cheek, then his chin. "Ah. So there is. I apologize." His expression looked almost dazed, but there was some kind of clarity in his eyes that made it hard to conclude that he was just being careless. It was unusual of Yuzuru to be acting so spacey, and it almost reminded Tori of all that time ago. Yuzuru had truly become a different person since that day they'd been separated; or perhaps he had always been this way, and Tori had only been sheltered from it. Tori put his hands on his hips.

"So? What happened? Jeez, come on and change your clothes and wipe your face off, you're gonna get the carpet all bloody..." Tori grabbed his wrist; led him to the master bathroom. Yuzuru pinched his nose gingerly on the way there, and he didn't seem to pay much attention to where he was stepping.

  "Yuzuru, what happened to you?" Tori repeated as Yuzuru sat down on the ledge against the bath. Yuzuru only smiled apologetically and wiped away the blood with the white glove on his hand.

"Ah, I'm sorry to have worried you, Young Master. Had I known it would cause you distress, I would not have engaged, however... It was only a minor scuffle."

Blood dripped onto the porcelain tile, and Tori gave Yuzuru an exasperated look.

"What are you talking about? Jeez, you're being vague on purpose just to brush it off, aren't you...!" Tori whined, but Yuzuru's absent expression did not change.

"Come on, i-if you're not gonna tell me then at least get all the blood off~." Tori sighed, tugging on Yuzuru's sleeve. "Gimme your clothes, I can get someone to wash them — um, I'll just tell them you fell or something? Yuzuru?"

"Thank you, Young Master, but there is truly no need..."

"Whatever! I'm not asking, Slave~!" Tori reached his hands out, froze for a moment, and with nervous motions began undoing the buttons of Yuzuru's uniform. Yuzuru looked bewildered, even distressed, but Tori would take anything over that blank expression of his. Tori dropped the black piece of Yuzuru's uniform to the ground, then the next piece, and then the bloodstained white undershirt was last. Why was it, Tori thought with his face feeling a little bit warmer, that it was never embarrassing whenever Yuzuru undressed him, but now his hands were fumbling to undo the button at the very top of his collar?

Tori didn't know anything about him. For the sixteen years of his life, Yuzuru had always been a presence in it — and yet, all of this was still new. Tori didn't know why Yuzuru's mind was so distant and careless right now. He had no idea why Yuzuru wouldn't — or couldn't — seem to acknowledge the blood on his lips. He had never seen Yuzuru's bare back before now. Perhaps these unknowns were why Tori's fingers trembled a little when he helped Yuzuru out of his white shirt.

Tori straightened, and Yuzuru's back side was laid out before him like a painting. It was slender, and refined as though crafted carefully by whoever took hold of him; perhaps not perfect by nature, but made perfect through meticulous conditioning. And although slim, his whole build looked fairly strong and firm. Tori placed his hand onto Yuzuru's back as he could not drag his gaze from it, spotting something.

"Ah..." Yuzuru murmured when he felt Tori's touch, like he had just remembered something. He glanced toward Tori shamefully. "Young Master, I..."

Tori shook his head. "Yuzuru, what did you do? How did you get these...?" His finger slowly traced a scar — one of a few — on Yuzuru's back. "What... I-I don't understand..."

Yuzuru abruptly turned to face him, and how Tori involuntarily drew his hand back was like the equivalent of it being slapped away in humiliation. It was hard for Tori to know what exactly he was feeling right then. Mostly it felt like confusion, curiosity. But still there was some kind of emotion he didn't think he'd never experienced before, the one he'd felt when Yuzuru had silently let Tori undress him, with his eyes focused on Tori's hands, his nervous motions. The things felt in the silence that reddened Tori's face, and made him dwell on things he'd never dared to even imagine. How strange it was that a foreign feeling like that could overpower Tori so completely, so instantly. It seemed like only Yuzuru, who was always changing and never totally revealed, could make Tori feel that way.

Yuzuru smiled, and the familiar sweetness of it washed away whatever else Tori might have been thinking about. "I never wanted you to see..." The soft regret in his eyes was easy to see as he paused. "It seems I had forgotten my place, Young Master. Please, allow me to apologize."

Tori hesitated, but when he spoke, his voice was heavy. "What are you saying sorry for? Sometimes even Yuzuru needs help, right?"

"That is not quite what I..." There was an uncomfortable silence for a minute after Yuzuru trailed off. Yuzuru's nose had stopped bleeding, but now there was a dark red smear across his chin. Tori quietly walked over to draw a bath, feeling Yuzuru's gaze bore into him. Yuzuru's clothes lay in a pile beside them both.

"It is quite embarrassing for my Young Master to dote over me such as this... I feel as if I have failed at my duty."

"Hmph. Well, you're lucky I'm doing this for you, cuz you still haven't told me anything. It's a good thing I'm super sweet and caring." Perhaps Tori was putting a bit too much bite into his words, but he didn't really mind if it meant that it would stop this unbearable silence.

Yuzuru bit his lip. "I had never imagined I would have to tell the Young Master about any of this..."

Tori's chest squeezed. Answers like these were everything he'd ever wanted. Right? He was tired of being sheltered; he didn't want to live in ignorance anymore, being told lies and stories to distract from the real truth. Yuzuru had been a steadfast but mysterious presence, as distant as he was close. And yet, the idea that he was going to learn about everything now made something in his stomach churn. He swallowed. "I want to know. I... I dunno what's been going on with you, but I like you a lot more when you're just your normal self, bugging me about doing homework or feeding King or whatever. You can tell me. I don't wanna be babied anymore. Really."

Yuzuru looked as if he was lost in thought for a long time, and he watched the bath fill for a drawn out moment. He offered his next words with what almost resembled sorrow in his voice, speaking over the noise of the water. "... What did Master and Mistress tell you... when I left for those years? Do you remember?"

"Papa told me that Yuzuru was going to study abroad, but he'd be back soon," Tori replied, feigning confidence. He gripped his arm, feeling small. Was that a lie? After he had wholeheartedly believed in it for so long? Gazing outside his window, diligently studying so Yuzuru wouldn't be disappointed in him when he returned?

"Ah. Well, truthfully... My parents suggested I should train to protect the Himemiya heir... and so I was sent away to... a camp." Yuzuru looked uncertain in his words, and he couldn't make eye contact with Tori. "In that time, I gained those scars."

"Yuzuru..." Tori couldn't form words for a moment, and whatever fumbled out of his mouth barely made up proper words when they came. "I... I'm sorry, you never should have had to —"

Yuzuru smiled warmly, and he took Tori's trembling hand in his steady one. "Do not be, Young Master. It was not you who sent me away. You were lonely and wished every day that I would return, did you not? Those feelings were what brought me back to your side, safely." Tori looked unsurely up at him (ah, his face was red again, now — how embarrassing it was for his strong feelings to be so casually recalled). "That is why I never wanted you to worry yourself over a thing such as this. But now, I am under your will, Young Master. I shall always be. Do you understand?"

Tori, with his hand still wrapped around Yuzuru's, didn't respond, but stepped forward and hugged Yuzuru. His chest was still bare, and his skin was soft and pale and cold, but all of that Tori did not notice.

"Yuzuru," he stifled a sob, but tears still poured. "Wh-What if something had happened to you... A-A-And Mama and Papa never told me —" His voice was wavering, falling, shaking — "And it would h-have been all my fault... I'm sorry..." Yuzuru cradled the crying boy in the crook of his neck. It was too hard to try to hold back small sobs for him now, and it was too hard to pretend to be embarrassed about it. "I'm sorry, Yuzuru... I'm sorry..."

"Young Master..." Yuzuru gave a smile as he always did to reassure him. "Please do not cry. I am safe here now, am I not? Do not blame yourself."

Tori sniffled as his sobs faded into hiccups, and Yuzuru stood there quietly for a moment, letting Tori calm down in the clutch of his arms. Yuzuru tenderly held his face in one hand, but his face had become serious. "Young Master, you must know that Master and Mistress were only protecting you. They never wanted you to worry, like you're worrying right now. And... I, myself, never wanted you to worry, either... But now, you've grown strong, into a wonderful individual. Isn't that right?"

Tori nodded and stumbled to stand up on his own, away from the support of Yuzuru. He breathed deeply one last time, and wiped his face. "Yuzuru... I'm glad you told me. Thank you. Really."

Yuzuru smiled in return. "The bath is going to run over," he then noted innocently, with a calm yet mischievous look in his eyes. Tori let out a small noise of panic and reached to turn the water off.

"Um... Yuzuru, so what about your nose?" Tori asked when they were facing each other again, his voice still small and a little unsteady. At the question, Yuzuru looked in the mirror, and tried wiping the now half-dried blood off. He did not speak for a few moments, and his face went through tiny changes in emotion as though he was trying to organize how he was going to explain whatever happened.

"Ah... Well..." He bit his lip again. "Well, I suppose I should first tell you this. I hate to bring up the subject yet again, but... When I was away, I met a... friend, I suppose you could call him."

"Eh~? Yuzuru, you had a friend?" Tori leaned in, intrigued. But Yuzuru rolled his eyes.

"I use the term very loosely, Young Master." His face was surprisingly deadpan, and Tori was enraptured — so much that he couldn't determine what kind of things were resting in his heart. There were only questions flitting about in his mind. "He had quite the sharp tongue. In fact, he had reminded me of you, just a bit." At this, though, Yuzuru let his serious face loosen for a teasing laugh.

  "So what was his name?" Tori let one question slip out.

"Hm, I think," Yuzuru spoke purposefully, hesitantly, "you may know him as a member of Adam."

  "Nagisa-sama?!" Tori exclaimed. "Or is it that guy with the bad attitude, the one kept insulting me onstage...?!"

Yuzuru chuckled knowingly. "Unfortunately, I do not believe I have ever spoken to Nagisa-sama outside of that live, so..."

"Wait, so you're saying that guy was the one who bloodied your nose up?!" Tori was suddenly standing up straight, all of the muscles in his body tightened. Now, his mind was clear, but all he could feel in his chest was confusion and annoyance, and somewhere there was a little flame of something that burned hotter every time Yuzuru smiled at the mention of that guy. "Can't you, like, file for assault and get him kicked out of his company or something...?! We should call Eichi-sama and tell him about it!"

"... Young Master, please stop saying irrational things." Yuzuru gave a warning glare at Tori, who backed down. "Ibara is a bothersome person to deal with, but truthfully, he's not some sort of villain. When we were children, we..."

Suddenly, that clouded look in Yuzuru's eyes washed over him again, fading whatever intensity had been in Yuzuru's voice before that. "...We only had one another."

"Wha~at? So why did that guy even try to start a fight with you, anyway?" A part of Tori's chest was beginning to tighten, although he did not know whether it was from frustration or some other feeling.

A soft laugh. "Truthfully, it was not Ibara's initial intention." And then, Yuzuru reached up to touch his lips thoughtlessly. The smudged blood was stained there now, but something in the way his fingertips softly touched his lips as if its memory could be destroyed in an instant told Tori he wasn't remembering the contact of the punch. No, it was a gesture that could have meant anything. So why did Tori suddenly feel like his heart was hammering fast — like his insides were filling with poison...?

"He merely had to tell me something, and things turned sour with him as they usually do." Yuzuru smiled, but this time it did not reassure Tori even a little. Ah, and it was so easy for Tori to burst into tears earlier; now, he couldn't help but know all of these uncertainties and foreign feelings were bunching themselves up in his gut, ready to burst out when Tori least desired it.

"But you look way too happy..." was what Tori mumbled under his breath.

It seemed that Yuzuru had not even noticed Tori's words, but after a moment of silence he looked up. "The bath will get cold if we leave it any longer," he said matter-of-factly. "I will clean up, and I trust that you can make dinner for yourself and Imouto-gimi?"

Tori tried to smile, even though he felt so terribly heavy. "Yeah."

Yuzuru's voice softened, just a little. "Thank you, Young Master."

Without thinking, Tori took a few extra steps forward, wrapping his arms around Yuzuru again. "No, thank you, Yuzuru." Tori felt smooth, soft skin beneath him, and he let his hands clutch Yuzuru's back one last time — trying to recreate that weird, fluttery yet weighty feeling in his chest that scared him, and yet was so exhilarating to experience. Yuzuru's arms around him felt suffocating in return, dripping with what Tori thought could have been poison. He pulled away, and without another word or even a glance, he grabbed Yuzuru's bloodstained clothes and fled the bathroom.

He looked down at the garments in his hands as he traversed the mansion's halls, and he took a look around before he buried the clothing in his face. Yuzuru's familiar scent — rather unremarkable, but with a hint of something floral — overpowered him as his throat tightened, but then he pulled away in an instant. A scent Tori did not recognize also lingered there, invading, and somehow he knew it was not a mere bloodstain.

**Author's Note:**

> yes i am fully aware yuzuru has had a swimming card before with his back exposed let me LIVE  
> twitter: @_zuttosobade kudos and comments give me serotonin


End file.
